SALARY CAP

• More space, but too much dead money: The Buffalo Bills will enter the 2018 free-agent shopping season in better salary-cap shape than in the past two years. They're still a long way from where Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott want to be in the cap department because they lead the NFL in dead cap money.

• Youth equals value for Bills' cap: Players on their first NFL contract who start are like gold. The Bills aren't getting a steal on the order of some teams, but it's no surprise their rookie starters are among the top value players on the roster.